Barbed wire has been commonly used for many years to fence in land and to act as a deterrent against trespass not only by humans but by animals as well. Barbed wire fencing also has a preferred use to contain certain types of farm animals, such as cows, horses, sheep, etc., on a certain piece of property.
To make acceptable barbed wire, a plurality of metal barbs are attached to steel strand wire, or in some cases to a single line metal wire at longitudinally spaced intervals as the wire is fed through a conventionally constructed barbed wire machine. Such machines are constructed to wrap the barbs tightly around the metal wire. Sometimes, however, the metal wire itself may be coated with plastic to provide some degree of restraint against shifting of otherwise loose barbs, or it may be crimped at suitable intervals to ensure that no sliding of the barbs can take place.
The wire to which the barbs are attached to form barbed wire is typically steel and may have a diameter of about 1/10 inch. The barbed wire is customarily available in bale form wherein approximately 50 feet or more of barbed wire is coiled into a diameter measuring approximately 2 to 5 feet across, depending upon the length of the barbed wire within the bale.
During the initial installation of a barbed wire fence, it will be appreciated that many bales are necessary to construct what is often miles of fencing, wherein the barbed wire is unrolled from the fence, cut with heavy shears, and then stretched before it is finally secured between a pair of fence posts. Typically, two or more strands are secured along the height of the fence post at vertically spaced intervals from each other depending upon fence height.
In the event that it is necessary to repair a barbed wire fence, such repairs generally require no more than the replacement of a short single length of barbed wire that may be strung between two of the fence posts. Unfortunately, however, given the rigid nature of the steel barbed wire, such repairs often require that a bale or a part thereof be carried to the repair site, as well as heavy shears to cut the unrolled wire to the desired length and a heavy mallet with which to attach the replacement piece between the posts. In other words, virtually the same materials and tools used for the initial installation of the entire fence are necessary to repair even a short break in the fence.
It is accordingly one object of the present invention to quickly and easily repair a barbed wire fence.
Another object is to repair barbed wire fencing without requiring any cutting and installation tools other than a knife, such as a pocket knife.
Yet a further object is to repair barbed wire fence with a barbed material that can be close coiled or rolled onto itself into a tight ball or bundle, and is therefore capable of being easily and compactly stored and carried to the repair site.